1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to liquid discharge apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are known ink jet printers including a cap member adapted to cover a plurality of nozzles formed in an ink jet surface by contact with the ink jet surface, and a suction pump connected with the cap member via a switching unit. The plurality of nozzles include a plurality of nozzles for black ink and a plurality of nozzles for color inks. The cap member has a first cap portion to cover the plurality of nozzles for black ink, and a second cap portion to cover the plurality of nozzles for color inks. These first and second cap portions are connected respectively with the switching unit via suction ports. The switching unit causes the suction pump to communicate with any one of the first and second cap portions. In this configuration, when the cap member comes to contact with the ink jet surface so as to cover the plurality of nozzles, the suction pump is driven, and the switching unit causes the suction pump to communicate individually with each of the cap portions; thereby, it is possible to purge the inks respectively from the plurality of nozzles for the black ink and from the plurality of nozzles for the color inks.